


Let's Not Waste Time

by BigBadTardis



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Emotions, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Love Confessions, Movie Night, Post-Episode: s02e07 The Idiot's Lantern, So yes, Television Watching, The Doctor and Rose watch Bewitched, as some of you know I love Bewitched
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:09:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26901913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BigBadTardis/pseuds/BigBadTardis
Summary: The Doctor and Rose watch some tv together, but the show in question hits a little too close to home.
Relationships: Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler, The Doctor (Doctor Who)/Rose Tyler
Comments: 6
Kudos: 28





	Let's Not Waste Time

The Doctor wandered around the TARDIS looking for something to do when he remembered that typically Rose could be found in the media room on some of their off days. He bounded over to the media room to find Rose sitting on the sofa with a fluffy blanket with a box of candy on her lap. She was watching an American show from the ’60s on the big screen. While the room was dark and had the lights off, the screen from the colorized show lit up most of the room. The Doctor coughed to alert her of his presence. Rose grabbed the remote and paused her show before turning around. Her face lit up when her eyes finally differentiated him from the other objects in the room.

“How long have you been there?” She asked, with a light laugh. 

“Not long at all,” he replied. “What are you watching?” He asked, climbing over the top of the sofa and plopping down next to her.

“Bewitched,” Rose said, resting her head on the Doctor’s shoulder. In the days since Rose lost her face, they had been even more touchy-feely than they had been in the past. Rose also had been on a kick for ‘60s nostalgia ever since then, which was weird since the last place they went was the 1950s, but he certainly wasn’t complaining.

“Oh, Bewitched,” he said. “I was preoccupied at the time it came out and I barely knew how the TARDIS worked back then, so I didn’t watch it. I was all the way back in my first body, then.”

“Really?” 

“I hadn’t interacted with humans until then, but Susan quite enjoyed it.”

“Susan?” 

“My granddaughter.” His voice grew distant in the end. He heard Rose suck in a breath.

“I’m sorry.”

The Doctor didn’t say anything. Instead, he kissed her forehead and pulled away. “How about I go put on my nightclothes and I’ll watch with you?”

“I’d like that,” she replied. The Doctor stood up and walked to his room. Bewitched was about a witch, Samantha, and her mortal husband, Darrin. Not everyone approved of their mixed marriage and that lead to Samantha’s side of the family often causing trouble, even if Darrin’s wasn’t completely innocent either. Darrin wanted her to give magic up because it wasn’t befitting of a housewife. Still, the show went on for eight seasons, so it was safe to say she never gave it up completely.

The show was clearly an analog for feminism, and how housewives couldn’t be feminists, but it had a charm to it. The Doctor changed into the same nightclothes he wore on Christmas. For some reason, Howard didn’t want them back. The Doctor grabbed another blanket because he knew Rose liked to be buried in fluff and practically hopped back to Rose. He found Rose waiting patiently at the sofa, but now there was a fire in the fireplace. She turned back and smiled at him she heard him come in and extended her hand from the sofa, signaling him to come over. He took a seat next to her, farther away from the fire.

“Do you want to start the episode over again?” She asked.

The Doctor shook his head. “How far are we into the episode?”

“Not far, maybe 5 minutes?”

“Then don’t start the episode over again for my sake.”

“Alright, but if you’re confused we can start it over,” she said in a sing-song tone. Rose leaned onto the Doctor’s side and resumed the episode. Darrin had seen a picture of Samantha called “the maid of Salem” and the picture was said to be from 1682. 

“That’s the plot?” The Doctor asked, as the intro was playing.

“Problem?” 

The Doctor sighed, “no.” They continued to watch and Darrin and Samantha were sitting down on their own sofa and having a conversation. Darrin was wondering how old Sam really was, and Sam wasn’t entirely getting the issue.

_ “Well, yes! A little older,” _ came from the TV. _ “After all, we met a year ago.” _ The Doctor had forgotten how quickly Sam and Darrin had gotten married after meeting. He looked down at Rose, who was staring intently at the screen. It wasn’t impossible to spend your life with someone so soon after meeting. Rose had only known the Doctor a day when she decided to go swanning off in his spaceship with him.

_ “What are you going to look like when I’m 75?” _ Darrin asked. 

_ “Well, I don’t know, Darrin. How should--?”  _

Suddenly the Doctor was feeling hot. Did Rose pick this on purpose? No, she had been watching the episode before he came in. He thought about getting up, but he didn’t want to disappoint Rose. There was this, sort of, unspoken rule ever since she lost her face, that they would spend as much time together as possible. He groaned internally and continued on. 

_ “You’re going to look just the way you are now, aren’t you?”  _

Ok! This was hitting a little too close to home for comfort. Except, the conversation he had with Rose wasn’t played for laughs. It was tragic. 

Samantha talking on the TV broke the Doctor out of his thoughts. 

_ “You’re going to help me up and down the stairs and bring me warm milk when I go to bed,” _ Darrin said, with a tone of realization. 

Rose scoffed. “That’s all he’s worried about?” 

_ “Darrin, I know you don’t like warm milk. _ ” Rose choked. 

_ “How do you know what I’ll like when I’m 75? _ ” 

That’s what he thought about Rose. How did she know she was going to want to travel in 50 years? She was young and had her whole life ahead of her. 

_ “How do I know you’ll still feel the same way toward me?”  _ Darrin asked. 

“Well, she loves him, doesn’t she?” He heard Rose say with a scoff. It was quiet and the Doctor wasn’t sure if he was supposed to hear it or not. “If you love someone enough to share your life with them forever, then that won’t change.” 

The Doctor’s eyes widened, but he refused to look down at Rose. 

“He’s afraid of what will happen when she outlives him,” he said. 

Rose scoffed. “Now I know you really haven’t seen Bewitched, Darrin only thinks about himself. He’s not thinking about Sam and how she feels.”

_ “Sam, what will people think when they see us together?”  _

“Told ya,” Rose said, shoving a piece of candy in her mouth.

_ “They’ll think you’ve got the youngest wife on the block. Isn’t that marvelous?”  _

“Oh, and she has her priorities so straight?” 

“Yes, she does.” 

“How so?” The Doctor replied, feeling a little heated. 

Rose rolled her eyes and clicked the remote, pausing Bewitched. “She’s just focused on loving him and being with him for the time they have.” 

“She’s practically immortal, her relationship with Darrin will be over in a blink of an eye.”

“So what? Just because she’s only going to have him for a fraction of her life doesn’t mean it’s any less real and meaningful. Samantha is focused on loving him for the time she has with him.”

“She’s being foolish, Darrin’s life is like that of a fly compared to her’s she knows she shouldn’t put herself through that and she does anyway.”

Rose’s hand cupped the Doctor’s right cheek. Her fingers were hot on his face and her eyes were glassy. “Because she knows that loving him while she has him is better than never letting herself love him at all. They’ll have happy times together, beautiful times! And it will all be worth it. She’s not wasting any time, Doctor.” Rose sat on her knees leveling herself to the Doctor. Her free hand cupped his other cheek and she crushed her lips against his. It was quick, but not completely unreciprocated. “So why are we?” she asked when they broke apart. The Doctor pulled back. His eyes were wide and he felt his hearts working overtime. She was pushing again, and he wasn’t sure he was ready to deal with the consequences. The Doctor stood up.

“Rose, I can’t.” 

“Why?” 

“I told you, Rose. I can’t watch you wither away.”

“I’m going to wither away whether we’re together or not!” She threw her hands up in the air. “If I’m going to die, then why can’t I die knowing we didn’t hold anything back?” 

“If I give my hearts to you, I don’t know if I’m ever to recover.” He tried to walk away, but Rose climbed over the top of the sofa and gripped his wrist.

“There are ways where I can live longer than just 90. Sure, I don’t want to be a flap of skin, but she proved that there are ways where I can live so it’s not so short to you.” 

The Doctor scowled. “We don’t know how any of those treatments will affect your body. I can’t ask you to do that for me.”

“But I want to. Doctor, I lo–”

“Don’t!” He nearly growled. “Don’t tell me, I can’t.” 

“Let’s not fill our lives with regret, Doctor! Stop thinking about the future of us and let’s think about now!” She grabbed him from behind, hooking her arms through his and grasping his stomach. “Why are we letting fictional characters live the lives we want?” She pressed her head into his back. “If I’m going to die one day, then why are we wasting time? Why are we dancing around each other? Let’s spend 50 good years together, being in love and saving the world, instead of 50 years pining ourselves to death until one day, I’m gone and we’ll have wasted all the time we’ve had together. Please, let’s not worry about things that haven’t happened yet, let’s worry about now and what we want. Tell me, what do you want, now?” 

Dammit, he had a choice, the choice he would take now would affect both of their lives. He asked himself, should he take that leap? Was he willing to cross that line with Rose? Was she right? Will the short time he’ll have with her be worth it? The Doctor turned his head around, looking at the top of Rose’s head. “Rose, let me go, please,” he said, gently. He sighed, here was only one option.

She sighed and her hands unclasped themselves, freeing him. He turned around, Rose was staring at the floor. His hands went to her cheeks, lifting her face up to meet his eyes. “I want you,” he said, barely louder than a whisper. He crashed his lips down to hers, capturing them in a desperate kiss. He tried to stay grounded, but being with Rose made him feel like he was flying. Finally, he pulled back and rested his forehead on hers. 

“I didn’t expect that,” she said. “Boy, you are repressed.” She laughed. 

He scoffed. “That’s what you have to say? 

“I’m a little in shock.”

“Are you really willing to go through treatments so you can stay with me?”

“I told you already, I will.”

“It’s not going to be easy,” he said. 

“Nothing is easy. I’d do it in a heartbeat.”

“When do you want to start?” He asked. 

Rose pulled him down by the collar, her eyes met his. Brown meeting brown. “Soon, but first, I’m through with wasting time.” And she kissed him again.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This is the first thing I've been able to able to finish in like two weeks. Also, I think maybe I put way too much Bewitched in this, but I don't care. I was watching this episode like two days ago and I could not stop thinking about the Doctor and Rose. So, I wrote it. 
> 
> Technically this is the first story I've written with the original Tenth Doctor (not Jodie as Ten) and Rose lol. Bc the other fic I was writing had Ten and Rose separated for most of the story lol.


End file.
